Krishna Sree Vastav Gobbilla - My UPSC journey

          My Sociology preparation for the UPSC Mains was both challenging and enlightening. Over multiple years and four mains, I transformed my approach and strategy, steadily improving my score from the 230s to my best score of 285. Here, I'll share the key changes I made, the lessons I learned, and what I did to improve my Sociology score.  Initial Attempts and Lessons Learned 2019: First Mains Attempt - Score: 230 Preparation Strategy: My preparation was unstructured. I relied on multiple sources: class notes, academy materials, Haralambos, Nitin Sangwan, online notes, and Vikas Ranjan texts. Mistakes: Relying on too many sources: This scattered my focus and made my preparation haphazard. Lack of streamlined preparation: I didn't have a clear, organized study plan. Writing what I knew instead of what was asked: Many questions require application of concepts, but I tended to write what I knew rather than addressing the specific demands of the quest...

  Hey, here’s a reflection on my journey through Prelims since 2018. Over the years, I've had my fair share of ups and downs, but each attempt has taught me valuable lessons about preparation, perseverance, and balance. At the broader level, Prelims syllabus is 5 core subjects which are History, Geography, Economy, Polity and Environment (HGEPE). In addition, we are supposed to read current affairs and have a look at Previous year questions. Solving PYQs is crucial to understand what kind of questions are asked, where are they asked from and how to answer them. In my first attempt i.e., in 2018, I didn’t prepare enough. Though I knew what to read, where to read, I was not very serious in preparation. I prepared Economy, Polity and to some extent environment. I kind of managed Current affairs going through Vision monthly and yearly compilations. However, I haven’t focused enough on Geography, History and PYQs. This costed me dearly. All this resulted in poor confidence in attemp...

Dear Family, Friends, Relatives, and Mentors, Before I embark on this new chapter of my life, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you. This achievement is not just mine but a culmination of the unwavering support, love, and guidance I have received from each of you throughout this journey. To my dear mother and sister, you have been my rock, my constant source of encouragement, and my pillars of strength. Thank you for always standing by my side and believing in me. To my amazing friends, you have been there as a constant source of motivation, a cushion to dampen the stress and as an ear to listen to me. Your endless encouragement, late-night study sessions, and words of wisdom have been invaluable to me. To my dear friends from school, college and from the UPSC preparation days, a simple thank you will not do the justice to what I feel for you. To my dear uncles, aunts and cousins, your prayers, blessings, and words of support have meant the world to me. Thank you f...